Carrying handle

ABSTRACT

A bag is provided having an elongated reinforcing strip secured to its inner surface along the upper bag end. A fold line extends longitudinally through the reinforcing strip parallel to the strip sides and the attached bag wall and permits the upper bag edge to fold inwardly and downwardly to provide a bag edge of four thicknesses of paper. The upper edge of the bag is slit along opposite sides of one side wall from the upper edge to the fold line, providing a flap independently foldable outwardly of the opposite wall. Spaced apertures are provided through the upper end of the bag to accommodate a handle strap, the ends of which are channel-shaped and support pins to extend through the apertures, holding the bag closed and providing a bag handle.

United States Patent [191 Harrison [4 1 Apr. 17, 1973 1' CARRYING HANDLE [75] Inventor: Robert E. Harrison, Newburgh,

[73] Assignee: Hoeruer Waldorf Corporation,

Ramsey County, Minn.

22 Filed: Nov. 26, 1971 [2i] Appl.No.: 202,204

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7/1967 Engla ndr. ..229/'s4 R Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant Examiner-Stephen P. Garbe Attorney-Robert M. Dunning [57] ABSTRACT A bag is provided having an elongated reinforcing strip secured to its inner surface along the upper bag end. A fold line extends longitudinally through the reinforcing strip parallel to the strip sides and the attached bag wall and permits the upper bag edge to fold inwardly and downwardly to provide a bag edge of four thicknesses of paper. The upper edge of the bag is slit along opposite sides of one side wall from the upper edge to the fold line, providing a flap independently foldable outwardly of the opposite wall. Spaced apertures are provided through the upper end of the bag to accommodate a handle strap, the ends of which are channel-shaped and support pins to extend through the apertures, holding the bag closed and providing a bag handle.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CARRYING HANDLE This invention relates to an improvement in Carrying Bag and deals particularly with a bag having a reinforced open end and a Carrying Handle which is detachably connected to the bag and serves to hold the upper end of the bag closed.

7 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bags for carrying purchased items have been produced for a great number of years. For the most part, these bags are provided with open upper ends and handles extending upwardly from the front and rear panels of the bag to permit the bag to be carried in an open position. However, there are occasions when it is preferable to close the upper end of the bag. For example, in carrying relatively flat items which may be quite expensive, it is preferable that the top of the bag be closed to prevent the possibility of pilferage, and also to prevent the contents from sliding from the bag if it is laid down.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention discloses a bag which is of generally conventional form, having a front panel, a rear panel, and gusset panels connecting the edges of the front and rear panels. One of the wall panels, as for example the rear wall panel, is provided with a projecting lip which may fold over outwardly of the upper edge portion of the front panel. Aligned openings are provided in the lip as well as the front and rear panels, and a flexible handle is provided which includes end portions of generally channel-shaped form,.one side of the channel including a pin designed to extend through the aligned holes, and the other side of which is provided with an aperture into which the pin may frictionally engage to hold the bag closed and to anchor the handle to the end of the bag.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a reinforcing strip secured in face contact to the inner surfaces of the panels forming the bag. This strip extends along, or closely adjacent to, the upper edge of the bag. The various wall panels of the bag, as well as the reinforcing strip, preferably are transversally creased, usually at about the center line of the reinforcing strip. The bag walls are folded inwardly and downwardly along the crease line so as to form a reinforcement for the front wall and the gusset panels. Slits are provided along opposite side edges of the rear wall panel from the upper edge of the bag to the fold line to permit individual folding of the upper portion of the rear wall. While the bag is in flat folded form, the projecting flap between the slits at opposite sides of the rear wall panel is folded down outwardly of the front wall, and holes are punched in spaced relation through the downwardly folded rear wall flap and through the remaining layers of the bag and reinforcing strip. Thus the holes are actually punched through eight layers of paper forming a firm reinforcement for the handle.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of the bag handle including a flexible handle strip having generally channel-shaped end portions which may be applied over the upper end of the closed bag. The pins on one side of the channel are of sufficient length extend through the eight layers of paper and into a socket or aperture on the other side of the.

channel in which it is frictionally engaged.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following Specification and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carrying bag, showing the general arrangement thereof.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the closed bag and handle, the position of the section being indicated by the line 2-2.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the bag is formed showing the reinforcing strip applied thereto.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the upper portion of the bag after portions of the upper edge thereof have been folded down into face contact with the panels to which they are hinged.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the upper portion of the bag after the holes have been punched therein.

As is indicated in FIG. 3 of the drawings the blank A is formed of a rectangular sheet of paper, plastic film or the like which includes a front panel having one vertical edge connected by a fold line 11 to a first gusset panel 12. The gusset panel 12 is connected to a fold line 13 to a second gusset panel 14. The gusset panel 14 is connected by a fold line 15 to a rear wall panel 16. The opposite edge of the rear wall panel 16 is connected along a fold line 17 to a third gusset panel 19. This panel 19 is hingedly connected along the fold line 20 to a fourth gusset panel 21. The panel 21 is connected along a fold line 22 to a seam panel 23. The gusset panels are all of the same width, and the lines of fold connecting the various panels are parallel.

While the formation of the bottom of the bag is not of importance to the invention, a transverse fold line 24 connects the bottom ends of the various panels to form bottom areas 25 and 26 which will overlap and be secured together to form the bottom. Diagonally extending fold lines 27 and 29 extend from the lower end of the blank to a point 30 on the fold line 13 connecting the gusset panels 12 and 14. These diagonal fold lines 27 and 29 intersect the junctures between the transinner surface of the wall panels near the upper edge 36 of the bag. The reinforcing strip 35 may extend from the end edge 37 of the blank to the fold line 22 connecting the body of the bag to the seam panel 23. For practical purposes the upper edge of the strip 35 may be slightly spaced from the upper edge 36 and the ends of this strip may terminate slightly short of the blank edge 37 and the fold line 22 indicated in FIG. 3, to prevent undue bunching-of the paper.

When the reinforcing strip 35 has been applied, the bag is slit along lines 39 and 40 which extend from the upper bag edge 36 to a transverse fold line 41 which extends longitudinally of the strip 35 and parallel to the upper bag edge 36. The fold line 41 is at approximately the center of the strip 35. The slits 39 and 40 permit the portion of the bag panels which are outwardly of the slits 39 and 40 to fold independently of the area between the slits 39 and 40. Thus the area defined by the fold line 41, the slits 39 and 40, and the upper bag edge 36 forms a closure flap 42 hingedly connected to the remainder of the rear bag wall 16 along the fold line 41.

In completing the bag, the bag is folded along the fold line 41 so that the areas of the upper portions of the panels on opposite sides of the slits 39 and 40 fold down into face contact with the inner surface of the bag walls. This is shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The flap 42 remains in the extended position shown in FIG. 4 until the bag body has been formed by attaching the seam panel 23 in overlapping relation to the edge 37 of the front panel 10.

When the bag body has been completed, the flap 42 is folded down to overlie the upper edge of the front panel as indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings. Spaced apertures 43 are punched through the folded upper ends of the bags in spaced relation, the apertures extending through 8 thicknesses of the material due to the double folding of the reinforcing strip 35.

The handle B may be attached to hold the bag closed. The handle B is usually made of flexible plastic or similar material, the ends of the handle body 44 being provided with generally channel-shaped clips 45. One side 46 of the channel-shaped body is provided with a pin 47 while the other side of the body is provided with a socket of an aperture 49 designed to accommodate the end of the pin 47. As indicated in FIG. 2, the end extremity 50 of the pin 49 is slightly enlarged so that the pin will stay frictionally engaged in the aper ture 49. However, the material forming the structure is sufficiently flexible so that the pin may be forced through the aperture or may be withdrawn therefrom.

The handle B serves the double purpose of holding the upper portion of the bag closed and also for use as a carrying handle. In normal practice, the bags and handles are furnished separately and the handle is not applied until the purchased goods are inserted in the bag. In view of the fact that the handle is detachably secured to the bag the bag may be reused if desired.

In accordance with the Patent Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in CARRYING HANDLE; while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following Claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 1. A bag including: a bag body having a closed lower end, a reinforcing strip secured to the inner surface of the bag body at the upper end thereof, said strip having a pair of longitudinally extending edges which are substantially parallel to the top edge of said bag, the bag body including parallel front and rear walls and 2 sets of gusset panels connecting the edges thereof, the upper end of the bag having a fold line which is parallel to and extends between the longitudinally extending edges of said strip, one of said rent and rear wa 5 being separated from both of said sets of gusset panels by generally parallel cut lines which extend from said top edge of said bag to said fold line,

both of said sets of gusset panels and the other of said front and rear walls being folded into said bag body along said fold line,

said one of said front and rear walls being foldedalong said fold line and being positioned outwardly of the other of said front and rear walls and said sets of gusset panels the folded portions of said front and rear walls having spaced apertures therethrough,

a handle including means extending through said apertures.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said handle includes flexible generally channel-shaped members at its ends extending on opposite sides of said folded portions,

one side of each of said channel-shaped members having a pin projecting toward the other side thereof and forming the means extending through said apertures.

3. The structure of claim 3 and in which the other side of said channel-shaped members include an aperture into which said pin may extend.

4. The structure of claim 3 and in which said pin includes an end frictionally engageable with said apertures in the other sides of said channel-shaped memhers. 

1. A bag including: a bag body having a closed lower end, a reinforcing strip secured to the inner surface of the bag body at the upper end thereof, said strip having a pair of longitudinally extending edges which are substantially parallel to the top edge of said bag, the bag body including parallel front and rear walls and 2 sets of gusset panels connecting the edges thereof, the upper end of the bag having a fold line which is parallel to and extends between the longitudinally extending edges of said strip, one of said front and rear walls being separated from both of said sets of gusset panels by generally parallel cut lines which extend from said top edge of said bag to said fold line, both of said sets of gusset panels and the other of said front and rear walls being folded into said bag body along said fold line, said one of said front and rear walls being folded along said fold line and being positioned outwardly of the other of said front and rear walls and said sets of gusset panels the folded portions of said front and rear walls having spaced apertures therethrough, a handle including means extending through said apertures.
 2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said handle includes flexible generally channel-shaped members at its ends extendIng on opposite sides of said folded portions, one side of each of said channel-shaped members having a pin projecting toward the other side thereof and forming the means extending through said apertures.
 3. The structure of claim 3 and in which the other side of said channel-shaped members include an aperture into which said pin may extend.
 4. The structure of claim 3 and in which said pin includes an end frictionally engageable with said apertures in the other sides of said channel-shaped members. 